Roofing and method of forming the same



- RQQFING AND METHOD OF FORMING THE'SAME I March 4, l 930.

w..A;A HARRIS ROOFING' AND METHOD OF FORMING THE,-SAME 5 SheeizsnShee..V 2

Filed Aug. l5. 1924 March 4, 1930. I w. A. HARRIS I 1,748,981

ROO-FING AND METHOD OF FORMING THE ISAME' Filed/Aug- 15. -1924; 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 4, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM A. HARRIS, OIFI- BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO THE PATENT AND LICENSING CORPORATION,v OF BOSTON, MASSACHU SETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS ROOFING ANl) METHOD OF-'FORMING THE SAME Application filed August 13, 1924. Serial No. 731,775.

Comparativelythin roofing, such, for example, as that formed of sheet material as felt, saturated and'coated with asphalt and with orv Without a granular surfacing mate- I rial, when laid in overlapping courses,

whether in strip'` form or in individual shini gles, presents a somewhat flat appearance on the roof which is often objectionable. Its appearance may be much improved, however,

by producing an optical effect of shadows a ong the lower edges of the courses.

According to this invention the desired optical effect is produced by cutting the lower edge of the material of each course in zig- Zag or serrated formation, the serrations preferahly being of such small size thatvwhen laid they do not appear from a distance as serrations, but do act to broaden lout the ac,-

tual zone of shadow produced by these edges 2o and give the appearance of a band of shadow of a Width corresponding tothat produced by the edge of material of substantially greater thickness than that of the material actually used. The effectiveness of this shadow effect v is further heightened by causing the serrations to be somewhat irregular, the irregularity being sufficient so that no repeated pattern of irregularity is noticeable. By this means the effect of substantial roughness -in thesurface of the material is produced. A shadow effect may be produced by tearing off the lower edge of the exposed roofing material. This, however, is not only a time con# sum'ing procedure, but it results in substantial waste of material and it leavesexposed raw edges of the material which are inadequately -protected from the weather bythe saturatin and coating materials and thus more -rapid deterioration of the roof results.

furnishin a ready indication of their top andl bottom e ges. Asphalt or similar .shingles having-'a granular surfacing rolled inare '50 @und to have e grain effect swimming to By cutting the material as hereinbefore de-A the direction of rolling and if some shingles are laid in one direction relative to this grain and some in another over different areas of the roof, a splotchy effect is likely to result from the different color tone efl'ects due to the different positions relative to this grain that the different portions of the roof are viewed.

With this invention, particularly as applied to strip shingles, the units may be cut Without waste and in a manner which insures all the units being laid with the grain running in 'the same direction, or if desired they may be cut so that adjacent units as cut and packaged Will have the grain running in op'- posite directions so that the different grain effects Will alternate in relatively small sections producing a pleasing mottled instead of an unpleasant splotched effect.

Another variation, particularly applicable to individual shingles, cach having one end serrated and the other end plain or witha different pattern of serrations producing less shadow effect, comprises layingthese units alternately with ythe corresponding edges down and up, th-e shadow effect thus being more pronounced at every other element, giving the effect of alternately relatively thick and thin elements, this effect being further heightened in case the rain of the grit surfacing is reversed in adjacent units of each course to present alternately different color shades or tones. The serrated edges may also be employed to designate by their patterns the articular factory making and selling the roo ng, certain patternsv being restricted to certain factories, though the variations in pattern may be so small as to be unnoticeable to the ordinary observer of the roof, but apparent toione closely inspecting any of the elements.

`For amore complete understanding of this invention, reference may be had t0 the accompanyingdrawings in which af, Figure 11s a diagrammatic side elevation .fof mechanism for cutting'sheet material into o5 lengthwise strips each with'one serrated edge.

FigureZ is a fragmentary elevation of a,

pair of cooperating slitting rolls for the mechanism of Figure 1 Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspectiye of a l00 rotary chopping knife for cutting the lengthwise strips into individual shingle elements.

Fi ure 4 is a perspective of one of the shingle e ements.

Figure 5 is a plan of a portion of the sheet material showing the manner in which the units may be out therefrom. v

Figures 6 to 9 are views similar to Figures 1 to 3 and 5, respectively,butA showing the units as cut crosswise from the sheet material.

Figure 10 is an elevational detail of the zigzag cutter portion o f the roller shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11 illustrates in perspective a package of roofing elements.

Figures 12, 13 and '14 are perspectives showing various applications of the invention to strip shingles.

Figure 15 is a perspective of a portion of the roof laid up with individual or strip shingles formed according to this invention.

Figure 16 is a similar view illustrating a different manner of laying individual shinles. g Figures 17 to 2O inclusive are perspectives illustrating different manners of cutting strip shingles from the sheet material.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 5,'the sheet roofing material is shown as in roll form at 1 from which it is unwound and passes between cutting rollers 2 and 3 which split it into sections of the desired width. As illustrated in Figure 2 each alternate slitting knife is formed zigzag as at 4, the intermediate knives 5 being plain. Thiszigzag is preferably of irregular outline s0 that the web as shown in Figure 5 is c'ut along irregular zigzag lines as at 6 and is slit midway between these lines .as at 7. The material then passes to the rotary chopping knife 10 which cuts the narrow strips crosswise along the lines 11 of Figure 5 to form individual shingle elements each having one edge 12 serrated vand the other edges plain as illustrated in Figure 4. Where the units are cut in this manner it will be seen that half face in one direction and half i'n the other relative to the sheet from which they are cut, 'assuming that the serrated edge is the lower end of each unit. As the grain of the surfacing, provided granular surfacing` material is rolled into the` sheet material, runs'lengthwise of the web, it runs crosswise of each shingle unit, as the units are designed to be laid vertically with their serrated edges depending the grain is' crosswise of theunits in all instances, though running in one direct-ionen some and in the opposite direction on others. The color tone when these shingles are viewed at distances is not greatly different on all, and the shingles, 'being packaged as they are cut in a manner to' cause the grain on each alternate one to be reversed any splotchy color effect when laid is avolded.

Instead ofcutting the shingles crosswise of the web, as hereinbefore described, they may be cut lengthwise as shown in Figures 6 to 9. When this is to be accomplished the web is slit by circular slitting knives 20 on slitting rollers 21 and 22 and is then cut laterally into the desired units by a chopping roller such as is illustrated in Figure 8 at 25. As shown this roller is provided with two chopping knives, one of these, as 26, being straight, and the other', as 27, being irregularly serrated. This knife 27 may be made up from sheet steel and set in a len hwise groove in. the roller 25 which is then lledon either side of the knife 27 to complete the circular contour of the roller byeasily fusi-- ble metal such as babbitt, as shown, for eX- ample, at 28 in Figure' 10. With this form of cutter each alternate cross cut is irregularly serrated as shown at 30, while intermediate cross cuts are straight as illustrated at 31. This mechanism produces groups of shingle elements cut from' each longitudinally disposed narrow strips, alternate units facing in opposite directions relative to the grain of the surfacing, which in this instance will be pronounced since as laid-certain shingles will be viewed in the direction'of the grain' and certain in the opposite direction. They may v be packaged, however, as shown in Figure 11- with the two groups of shingles alternately disposed so that when the shingles are laid with their serrated edges all downwardly eX'- posed as shown, for example, 'in Figure 15, they will present. alternately different color tones. pointed out, each alternate shingle may be laid with its serrated edge down, the intermediate shingles being laid with the straight end down, as'shownin Figure 16. In this case if the grain of thepshingles is disposed differently relative tothe serrated ends a uniform color effect will be produced, but an effect of shadow giving the illusion of elements of relatively greater and less. thickness' will be produced. If desired, also, shingle units might be cut each having a serrated and a. straight end and cut with the grain running If desired, however, as previously in the same direction on all so that when laid alternately with the serrated andvstraight edges exposed alternate color tones are presented. Ofr'c'iourse where it isdesired to cut the shingles .all in the same direction relative to thc grain of the's'urfacingit can notbedone without waste unless'both of the oppositely disposed edges are to beserrated.

In Figures .12 to 14 are shown strip shin les cut so that both the upper and lower'e ges are serrated.y In Figure 12 the pattern presented is a series-ofA irregularly spaced scrrations 35, 'the' spaces between the points being greaterthan the points themselves. In Figure 13 the serrations 36 take the form of a curvedV or waved veffect and are of quite substantial size relative to the size ofthe units,

Whlle in Figure 14 the serrations 37 are small 1 and closely spaced, giving an. irregular saw tooth effect to btlupper and lower edges; In each of these instances the strips may be` cutin the same Way' relative tothe grain of the` material since the upper edge of one unit may be complemental to the lower edge/,of the adjacent unit as illustratedin Figures `17 and 18 where the strips are cut crosswise and longitudinally respectively of the web of sheet material. -Where straight upper `edges are desired the units may be cut from the material either crosswise, as shown in Figure 19, or lengthwise as shown in Figure 20. In this case it will be noted that alternate strips yface oppositely relative to the grain ofA the material. Of course instead of cutting the material as drawn from a roll, it might be cut as received directly from the saturating and coating mechanismv as is commonly done. vBy the terms finely serrated and ofrelatively small size used in theclaim as applied to the serrations, I mean serrations of sutlioiently small size so that when the shingles are in position on a roof, these serrations are substantially indistinguishable as such to the signature.

ordinary observer, but present 'rather the appearance of a widened shadow zone beneath the butt ends of the units of each course.

Having' ythus described certain embodiments of this invention it should-be evident 'to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be ymade therein Without departing from its spirit or scope as deined by the appended claim. I

A roofing unit having a serrated lower edge, said serrations comprising triangular projections of such a size as to be substantially-indistinguishable as such at the ordinary distance of an observer from a roof, the edges of said'projeetions thus blending to present a shadow eii'ect wider than that cast by a straight edge ofthe same material.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my WILLIAM A. HARRIS, 

